‘Oops I did it again’: How error management cultures can stimulate learning

Abstract

Previous research has demonstrated that an error management culture in which errors are discussed and analysed, can stimulate learning from errors and many other positive consequences, such as a higher quality of service and better performance. But how do we create and stimulate an error management culture within financial organisations? Based on previous research, the current study examined the relations between leadership error management, tone at the top error management, error policy, error management culture, and learning from errors within the financial sector. In order to study this, an online survey was conducted by the AFM among employees from thirteen different financial organisations (N = 436). Results demonstrated that the behaviour of direct supervisors and the top regarding errors positively related to learning from errors, both directly and indirectly through error management cultures. As expected, if direct supervisors and the top focused on error management and set the right example, more errors were openly shared and discussed within financial organisations, and more was learned from errors. Other interesting findings showed that managerial staff on average scored higher on constructs than the non-managerial staff, and some organisations scored better than others. Although error policy could not be analysed due to insufficient reliability, this study gave organisations more insight into their error management. Moreover, this study offers opportunities for financial organisations to stimulate error management cultures and learning from errors by implementing error management among direct supervisors and higher management.